Avoiding Cold Damage: What's Better Than Ice For Chronic Pain
For years, the go-to medical treatment for pain was RICE - Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation.
Only now people are starting to come around the to idea that ice for pain (especially of the chronic variety) does NOT work.
Sure, it may feel good temporarily. But for the long run, if it works so well, why does the pain keep returning, then? And in many cases, getting worse over time.
One of the 2000-year-old books we study in Chinese medicine school is called the “Shang Han Lun.”
Roughly translated it means “On Cold Damage.”
The theory is that "evil cold" is the root cause of several types of chronic illnesses: arthritis, and also chronic allergy problems, digestive weakness, menstrual irregularities and pain, and skin problems.
A body that succumbs to cold damage is fatigued, retains water, and becomes ill easily. There is usually pain, and the pain increases with cold weather.
Arthritis pain is diagnosed by acupuncturists as “wind-cold-damp,” a mixture of the "Evil Qi".
Most arthritic joints are areas with old injuries.
By introducing unnaturally cold temperatures to these weakened areas, you invite “Evil Qi” into your joints.
Cold is an element that you don’t want to invite into your joints.
You can think about it like this: cold causes things to contract...
Contraction of your blood vessels causes pain.
Theory: Cold = Pain
The argument in Western medicine has been the opposite. A hurt joint has inflammation (heat injury) and the ice counteracts inflammation.
As with most Western medical solutions, the problems are this:
- Short-term thinking, not long-term health.
- Blanket solution regardless of the individual.
Zhang Zhong-Jing author of the Shang Han Lun
Short-term inflammation is part of the healing process.
Cells are rushing to the injured area to promote circulation and regeneration. The problem with inflammation is that it hurts. You also don’t want the inflammation process to go on for too long without signs of progress.
Better ways to reduce inflammation slowly and naturally are:
- gentle movements or stretches
- acupuncture
- eating a low-sugar, high-nutrient diet
- drink plenty of water
Ice artificially stops the inflammation process. Why interfere with millions of years of evolution?
If you feel a coolness when you touch a painful joint, that's your clue to use heat. Moxa is a heat therapy we use in TCM to help reduce pain and swelling.
There was an interesting study done in 2011 on rats, where the rats sustained injuries to their tiny rat muscles (I don’t want to think about how they did that) and then were divided into 2 groups: one received ice and the other didn’t.
Influence of Icing on Muscle Regeneration After Crush Injury to Skeletal Muscles in Rats
| TIME AFTER INJURY | NO ICING GROUP | ICING GROUP |
|---|---|---|
| 12 hours | Macrophages were found within the necrotic muscle fibers (Macrophage migration to an injured site to phagocytose the necrotic muscle fibers is essential for “clean-up”) | Fewer macrophages were found within the necrotic muscle fibers |
| Day 3 | Regenerating muscle cells present | Reduced regenerating muscle cells |
| Day 4 | Normal sized muscle cells produced | Smaller sized regenerating muscle cells |
| Day 14 | Normal maturation of the regenerating muscle fibers | Maturation of the regenerating was visibly reduced |
| Day 28 | Cross-sectional area of the regenerating muscle was 65% greater than the icing groupCollagen fibers were seen only among the bundles of muscle fibers as it is seen in healthy muscles | Regenerating muscle fibers was significantly less in the icing group (P < 0.01)Abnormal collagen formation where collagen fibers surrounded each muscle fiber |
The iced group healed much slower. Ice interfered with the healing process.
Thousands of years ago, icing an injury was unheard-of. Some of my Chinese professors would say that drinking ice in your water or tea is like poisoning yourself.
Other Things That Lead to "Cold Damage"
If you've recently lost a large amount of blood (think: heavy period, childbirth, ulcer, traumatic injury), you're more vulnerable to cold damage as well. This, I think, is a huge misstep in Western medical hospitals. They're too cold! Injured and sick people need WARMTH.
You can help these situations by
"Cold damage" is the underlying cause of many illnesses:
Don't miss a beat!
New moves, motivation, and classes delivered to your inbox.
We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.
